Edible Sensor for Frozen Food Safety Indicates When Products Have Been Thawed, Refrozen
Researchers associated with the American Chemical Society (ACS), a nonprofit organization, recently developed a food-grade, edible sensor that can alert consumers to frozen products that have previously been thawed and refrozen. The sensor, made of safe ingredients such as table salt, red cabbage, and beeswax, provides a color readout when it is exposed to a specific temperature, which can be set from –58 F to 32 F.
Maintaining a certain temperature for frozen products is essential to food safety and quality. While researchers have previously developed devices that alert manufacturers when cold items are exposed to unwanted temperatures above freezing, the sensor designed by ACS is the first fully edible, self-powered temperature sensor with a visible color indicator for use with frozen products.